(a) Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to a device for supporting a cloth or the like from a surface by means of a magnet, and more specifically, but not by way of limitation, to an attachment for cloth articles for supporting the cloth articles by means of a magnet.
(b) Discussion of Known Art
The need for hanging or supporting articles such as kitchen towels and the like has been long felt. Particularly, there exists a long felt need to support articles made from a pliable material. Accordingly many devices have been formulated to meet this need. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,067,618 to Johnson teaches a device that includes a magnet to support a plate member with means for hanging articles. Perhaps one of the most salient disadvantages of the Johnson invention is that it is designed for positioning of the device at a specific location, and then the user must move over to the mounting location in order to use the device.
Another device for hanging articles is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 4,609,173 to Belokin, which teaches a towel hanger with magnetic supports. The Belokin device approaches the problem of supporting towels at a desired location by providing a structure that substitutes the need for the well known towel rack or rod. The Belokin device is disadvantaged, therefore, in that it requires that the user first locate the location where the device is mounted, and then hang the towel from the rod member of the device.
Yet another known device is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 4,039,082 to Ladinsky. The Ladinsky device, like the Johnson device and the Belokin device, includes a structure that forms a platform from which articles are hung. Thus, the Ladinsky device suffers from disadvantages akin to the disadvantages of the Johnson and Belokin devices in that the user must move to and from the support device every time the user wishes to use one of the articles supported by the device.
Yet another known device includes U.S. Pat. No. 3,365,684 to Stemke et al. The Stemke device is a system for retaining a shower curtain at desired locations within a shower. The Stemke device includes a plurality of supports that are attachable through the shower curtain to attach a magnet to the shower curtain. The Stemke device is disadvantaged however, in that it allows support of the shower curtain from a single side. Thus the user must ensure that the magnetic side of the attachment is placed on the side from which the curtain is to be supported.
Other known devices include U.S. Pat. No. 3,350,045 to Mayers, which teaches an article holder that can include magnetic supports for a one piece gripping member which can be used to hold sheets of material, such as pictures and the like. The structure of the Mayers device offers advantages in supporting articles that have a long, straight edge, but is not particularly well suited for supporting articles that are very supple, such as a towel or rag.
Still another known device is found in U.S. Pat. No. 3,107,361 to Glutting, Sr., which discloses yet another system for supporting a shower curtain at a desired location. The Glutting device is particularly well suited for supporting a shower curtain. However, the Glutting device does not lend itself to the support of individual towels, rags, and the like.
Yet another known device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,967,038 to Lennemann. The Lennemann patent discusses several embodiments that mount on one side of an article to be supported from a ferrous surface. Perhaps the greatest shortcoming of the Lennemann device is that it is designed for attachment to one side of the device to be supported by the invention. This arrangement permits optimal use of the support magnet to support a sheet of material or the like from only one side of the sheet of material. This shortcoming greatly reduces the convenience of use of the any of the embodiments discussed in the Lennemann patent with articles such as kitchen towels and the like.
It has been discovered that to conveniently support a flexible sheet of material, such as a kitchen towel or the like, it would be advantageous to provide a device that allows the user to support the flexible sheet without having to look at the flexible sheet to ensure that the correct side of the sheet is being placed against the ferrous surface. In other words, the device should allow the user to affix the device to a ferrous surface without having to search the flexible sheet to determine whether the correct side of the flexible sheet is being used to place the support against the ferrous surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,641,793 to Wilm teaches a pot holder with a magnet nested within the fibrous fill and between two sheets of fabric used to hold the magnet and fibrous fill together. While the Wilm device recognizes the important benefits of having a magnetic device to support a pot holder, namely the benefit of not requiring the user look for and manipulate a hook to support the pot holder, the structure taught by the Wilm suffers from important disadvantages. One disadvantage of the Wilm device is that by nesting the magnet in the fibrous material one produces a device that will favor one side of the pot holder versus the other. More specifically; by nesting the magnet within the fibrous padding one places a layer of fibrous padding, as well as a layer of fabric, between the magnet and the ferrous material to which the magnet is to cling. This layer of fibrous padding will seriously compromise the amount of strength of the magnetic field available for support of the pot holder. Thus, the structure of the Wilm device will favor support against one side of pot holder versus the other, producing problems that are similar to the problems encountered with the Lennemann invention.
Still another disadvantage of the Wilm structure is that it can only be used with a device such as a pot holder, where sections of fabric are used to define a pocket for holding the magnet. Thus, this kind of structure does not lend itself to supporting single sheets of fabric or other thin, flexible sections of material.
It is clear that there remains a need for a magnetic support that can hold flexible laminar articles, such as kitchen towels, curtains, screens and the like.